Something for FM Radio Nerds & to continue the same thread we had over on the old forum…
RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) publish UK radio listening data each quarter.
Its a useful indicator for those that are interested or concerned with the future of UK national FM broadcasts.
The original government plan was to begin the process of switching off national FM/AM & move to DAB when digital listening reached 50% to exceed FM/AM & when DAB coverage matches that of FM…
Things have moved on somewhat, and although the 50% target has been passed, BBC has proposed that switching off FM is premature for numbers of reasons such as DAB availability in the automotive sector & hints that DAB set ownership is not as high as expected. So it looks like FM switch off is on hold for a few more years…
The trends from previous QTR’s continues, the decline of FM, the slow growth of DAB & the firm growth of On-Line (web radio) although it did drop back a bit in this last QTR
I get impression most of Europe is rethinking DAB as a future radio medium. Yes it has a place I don’t doubt that, but not with DAB, it will be DAB+ or even another. It looks like FM has a place in a hybrid system & On-Line (internet) has a very promising future in more ways than one.
It looks like many are looking at Norway as that national broadcast FM switch off has not worked as well as expected. Listening figures show people are moving away from the national channels with many choosing local radio & neighbouring radio on FM. Also some big moves to On-Line.
Listening figures (Oct 2018) show FM 25%, DAB+ 45% & On-line 30%
And most disappointing is that half of Norwegian cars do not have DAB installed.
A significant broadcast company has given up their license for a national MUS block. Question is will the Norway project be the learning curve for all of Europe
